Kamloops council asking Trudeau government for federal panel review on Ajax Mine

KAMLOOPS – For the third time city council is asking the federal government to consider a federal panel review of the proposed Ajax Mine.

With a new federal government in place, Coun. Dieter Dudy asked council to again request the review. He says it’s a more thorough evaluation and would give residents greater confidence in the outcome of the mine.

Dudy said it’s no secret he’s an opponent of the proposed mine but if a federal panel review found no objection to the Ajax Mine proposal, he would accept the result knowing the review conducted was of the highest standard.

Mayor Peter Milobar said he has no objection in asking for a review, noting the request to current Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna would be the third minister the city has approached, but he believes the likelihood this new Trudeau government would grant one is still slim.

After meeting with Milobar back in October of 2013, former Conservative Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq turned down a federal panel review.

Council agreed to first send a letter, which would likely be followed by a meeting in Ottawa between McKenna and Milobar. There was no official timelines set, although it was acknowledged it would need to be requested sooner rather than later as the Ajax process has recently entered its next stage.

KGHM’s application requirements were recently declared complete by the B.C. government. The company has said it would submit the application in its entirety early in the New Year, which will move the proposed mine into the review and public input stage.

If the open-pit copper and gold mine is granted an environmental license it will operate just southwest of Kamloops.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.